Page 13 - FY2020Colleyville

scheduling. This will ultimately save the City money by timing the disposal of
vehicles to maximize return, providing a newer fleet, therefore reducing
maintenance costs, and utilizing a fleet with better gas mileage. The newer fleet
will also provide enhanced safety features for employees who drive the vehicles.

The City absorbs costs whenever possible, reallocating dollars to where the need
exists rather than assuming that “the way we’ve always done it” is the best way
to prioritize resources. This effort pays dividends when, for example, health
insurance costs increased six percent as they did this year. The City was able to
absorb those cost increases within the proposed budget, as well as provide
enhancements to the health insurance deductible reimbursement program, along
with all other typical cost increases, without needing any additional property tax
revenue. Health insurance costs make up the largest portion of the City’s
personnel budget after salaries.

• Expands public safety services

Public safety continues to be one of the community’s highest priorities and this
budget maintains funding for the high level of services Colleyville citizens expect.
The proposed fiscal year 2020 budget includes funding for 44 sworn police officers,
which is an increase of one officer, a sergeant being added to the Colleyville Crime
Control and Prevention District (CCCPD) budget (funded by a ½ cent sales tax).
The City is also moving an additional police officer from the General Fund to be
funded by the CCCPD, bringing the total officers funded by the CCCPD to 12. The
City’s strategy is to fund police officers and services from CCCPD as opposed to
capital items to connect the sales tax approved by the voters to direct public
safety.

The City is also providing funding to enhance Fire Department operations. The
proposed budget includes funding for one additional firefighter, bringing the
department’s total to 42 certified firefighters. The proposed budget also provides
for the reclassification of three firefighter positions to three field supervising
officer (FSO) positions. The Fire Department has recently instituted a response
model that mirrors the needs of the community, which has increasingly become
EMS driven. EMS calls account for 55% of the department’s call volume. In
response, Fire has added a rapid EMS response unit (Squad 24) to respond more
efficiently and increase service level. This has resulted in a 28% reduction in a
second arriving apparatus on EMS calls. The FSO positions will have supervisor
responsibilities on calls and will be responsible for quality checking all EMS reports
during their shift. The FSOs will also provide enhanced involvement with local
hospitals. FSOs will be dedicated to evaluating and improving the City’s EMS
operations on a daily basis. This fiscal year, the Fire Department will purchase a
new advanced life support ambulance utilizing the City’s lease/purchase strategy.
The current reserve ambulance will be disposed and the current second ambulance
will move to the reserve designation.

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